Sustainability at Rainbow Shade
There is a lot of hard graft to be done, and we’re taking action.
A lot of this has been happening behind-the-scenes and we’ve now resolved to share our story to be open with our customers and community, and hopefully inspire others as well.
As a boutique supplier, we might not have huge scale but we do believe we can make a change, and hope our actions will have a happy ripple effect throughout our industry.
If there is anything you’d like to check in with us about, or perhaps collaborate on some solutions, please contact us – we’d love to have a chat.
Our Sustainability Action Plan
What we’re doing
- We’ve taken stock of our impact, with a Sustainability Review
- We’ve bench-marked our biggest opportunities for change, from the products we bring in, to how we care for our employees, to the practices within our premises and offsite
- We’ve discovered some surprisingly good things about our supply chain, and some things that need to change
- We’ve aligned our plans to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals
- We’re bringing our whole team along for the ride, and endeavour to build on our culture for continuous improvement
Our biggest concerns with business-as-usual:
- Climate impacts from our supply chain (aluminium production, virgin plastics, transportation & energy use in particular)
- Valuable resources from fabrication and end-of-life product that often end up in landfill
- Providing a viable and sustainable business to support our employees and community long term
Our Focus
Our core Sustainability Focus for 2022-23 is:
- Workshop waste reduction (seeking a decline in landfill use, after our next 12 months’ data)
- Team wellness project (Living Wage Employer, and employee wellness and personal development initiatives)
- Influencing our industry & supply chain (we’d like to be positive influencers for change, and upskilling ourselves in responsible procurement)
- Carbon impact reduction (getting a firm handle on our number in 2022, setting a net zero target, reducing energy and fuel use, shifting to an EV / PHEV fleet as we upgrade, and exploring renewables)
- Exploring circular-economy pathways for the products we import and distribute
How we can help
- Explore renewable energy for our building
- Transition to an EV / PHEV fleet
- Reduce energy use within our premises
- Supply chain influence & source energy from responsible sources
- Invest & bank responsibly
How we can help
- Become a Living Wage Employer (our application is at the ready)
- Equal pay opportunities for women, men and migrants
- Ensure staff with language barriers have access to an interpreter for important communications
- Operate an open door policy and fear-free feedback mechanisms
- Uphold independently audited Health & Safety and HR practices
- Identify human rights risks within our supply chain, and push suppliers for transparency (responsible procurement)
- Invest & bank responsibly
How we can help
- Tracked, ongoing waste reduction and systems evolution within our business
- Support the circular economy and circular products
- Support those advocating for positive change in plastics, including through our membership with OFPANZ, Advanced Textiles Association and Plastics NZ
- Share resources and engage with local re-purposing and resource rescue organisations, such as Nourished for Nil, Re-Source HB, Habitat for Humanity ReStore Hastings, Red Cross Curtain Bank, the Hawke’s Bay Environment Centre, and others
- Encourage responsible consumption through our marketing, and supplying only quality, long-lasting durable products fit-for-purpose in NZ conditions
- Invest & bank responsibly
- Continuing to bring new apprentices up through the auto & marine upholstery trade to keep repair culture alive
How we can help
- Support the responsible treatment and reduction of trade waste
- What we tip down our drains matters – foster a culture of awareness and improvement
- Evolve our processes to avoid plastic / marine pollution from our products’ incorrect disposal or perishing into waterways
- Invest & bank responsibly
Recent Wins
Some wins you may be interested in:
- Scrap PVC – we have partnered with Matta Products Ltd who turn our soft PVC off-cuts into durable playground matting here in NZ. The product is made from recycled PVC which becomes a durable, low-maintenance and valuable item. This helps to close the loop in NZ and use the resource wisely.
- Office Waste – our office and staff-room now has recycling stations and a bokashi bucket, and our landfill bins have significantly reduced in size.
- We are currently re-designing our packaging of ZiptrakⓇ to move away from plastics (we’re in testing phase to ensure the product still arrives in perfect condition).
Our Next Steps
We’ll be reviewing our progress annually (each January), setting our sights higher and keeping our community informed through this page and our everyday communications.
There is lots of room for improvement and we welcome you to join us.
If you would like more information, please contact us.
Thank you for being part of our community!